We're turning houses into homes by hosting work holidays and providing FREE workshops to anyone and everyone who is in the spirit of learning! We're learning, you're learning, we're all learning together what it means to create a healthy, green home...what could be better than that?
...a healthier, greener vision for Buffalo perhaps?

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Monday, February 22, 2010

Eureka!

The radiators are working! I connected a concrete radiator to the heating system and...eureka! Well, not really...it was hours of poking and prodding before I got the system up and running with no leaks, reliable pumps, correct connections, etc. but when I heard the system click on for the very first time it was a glorious moment. Unfortunately there was no one around to share this big victory with, but if you had been walking by you would have seen some crazy girl in carharts running back and forth through the house, jumping for joy. Probably a good thing you weren't walking by...ha!

I have yet to test the efficiency and compare it to the efficiency of a regular copper fin baseboard radiator...that is for this coming weekend. Any other ideas of what I can easily compare it to? (cast iron is out because the heated water that circulates through the radiator circulates through the domestic hot water system as well) I was thinking of an electric radiator perhaps?

As I was walking out the door last night though, the radiator was already up to 75 degrees F and rising! Next in line is experimenting with pigments and shape and textures and adding different aggregate. I'm also looking into different designs for spiraling the tubing as well as making a lighter concrete so that they are easier to move. The possibilities are truly endless! I only have limited space though...is anyone curious enough to have them installed in their own home and act as a second testing site?? Ha!

If you're interested in getting a tour of the house, how the heating system works, the avantages/disadvantages/costs. I will be in Buffalo again next weekend and can walk you through it.